The Entrepreneurial Mind

Most often entrepreneurs measure their work in terms of time. I have been as guilty as anyone.

When I was lead my seminar for entrepreneurs owning high growth companies I always start with a discussion of why they are all in my class. The answers seem to involve the number of work hours that each entrepreneur is putting in his or her business. "Sixty hours." "Seventy hours." "Eighty hours." They each drift into this familiar litany.

One time one of the entrepreneurs in class looked perplexed through this discussion. When it came to his turn, he said, "I must be doing something wrong. I never put in more than 40 hours. My business has been growing every year and we have good profitability. I always seem to have time every evening for my family." You could have heard a pin drop. It was like he had broken the worst taboo of entrepreneurs.

Over the next several weeks we learned his secret. He was an engineer by training, and looked at his work as an entrepreneur with the same process/outcome precision that learned in his professional training. He measured his success in terms of outcomes and results, not in terms of hours worked or sacrifices made.

Many in the class began to admit that they often put in time that had no purpose and no direction. They said it made them feel like they were doing something to deal with all of the uncertainty that comes with growing a business.

Ben Cunningham sent me a link to an article in Behance Magazine that reflects on the issue of results and effort:

We often assume that the number of hours spent at work are an indication of one's effort, interest, and accomplishment. However, in reality, the greatest ideas and the execution of these ideas happen in spurts. The best ideas often do not require a lengthy conception, and the most productive days are seldom the longest.

Good advice!